Police are attempting to locate Adam Batkay, a missing person who was last seen by his family on July 31, 2010. Batkay, 39, is approximately 5’11”-6’1”, 180 -200 lbs. He may have a goatee and wears an earring in his left ear. He is known to frequent the areas of Bloomfield Center and Newark. Police have learned that, in the last three weeks, Mr. Batkay has also been in Irvington and East Orange. Mr. Batkay is believed to have been seen outside convenience stores and coffee houses in Bloomfield asking passersby for cigarettes and/or money. Mr. Batkay may also frequent computer and comic book stores in the area. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Montclair Police Department at 973-744-1234 or Detective Adam Toops at 973-509-4717.

Disgruntled Decamp employees have been protesting outside their company’s Greenwood Avenue, Montclair headquarters — and at a higher profile location on Grove Street (just south of Walnut) — since 5 a.m. on day one of their first strike since 1982. According to John A. Costa, Chairman/State Business Agent for the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), De Camp workers want to negotiate and get back to the job quickly —  if the owners of the privately held company will talk.”These people aren’t happy to be out here losing money, but more than 85% of our Union membership backed the strike,” he said, indicating the two dozen or so picketers.

The two parties are scheduled to sit down together on Tuesday, and Costa wants the governor to mediate. We’ve placed a call to Governor Christie’s office to convey ATU’s invitation and are waiting for their response.  Costa says he also asked for help from NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein, who is part of the same union, but hasn’t yet heard back.

Among many detailed complaints that the ATU listed in a written statement, is the fact that the company wants to implement a 5- year contract without an increase in wages for that time period. Additionally, De Camp wants to radically revise the health plan with a large initial deductible. In this same document, the union states its own demands, which include a $.45 per hour increase each year for the next two years. According to their statement, the wage rate for bus operators over the past 6 years has been increased by a total of $1.75/hour.

“De Camp won’t open their books, so we have no way of knowing whether or not the company is in dire financial straits,” explained Costa. “If they fairly disclosed their profits it might help us understand their situation better.”

As it looks right now, the strikers will be out picketing with their rat and not working all weekend. In the meantime, they say De Camp is paying non-union part time employees $15/hour to drive shuttles into the city. “These workers have been given an ultimatum — either cross the picket line and drive now, or lose your job,” stated Costa.

As the union leaders shouted into megaphones and picketers chanted their slogans in the sweltering heat, cars, trucks and passersby honked and yelled support. The riders we spoke to this morning were of mixed sympathies — some in support of the employees and some not so much.  Costa hopes that riders will call the De Camp owners, primarily Vice President of Operations Gary Pard, to express their concerns about service and encourage them to get back to the negotiating table to resolve the issues. When Baristanet tried to talk with Pard or other De Camp management, security guards advised that we must leave the property immediately. As we stepped off the property, the employees looked on with understanding and said, “You see, this is what it’s like to deal with them. They won’t talk.”

We’ve heard several reports in the past two days that traffic congestion at Montclair State has reached absurd levels due to a number of construction projects going on simultaneously. And today is the first day of school at MSU. One tipster writes:

Clearly the three entities working on Normal Ave did not talk to each other.  Today is the first day of school and the poor MSU students have to deal with road closures on Normal, due to sewer upgrades and Quiet Zone work, as well as University construction.  It is a mess.  Students pay $300 to park on campus, and there are no spots!  Take a ride up there around 5:00 when students are leaving and evening students are coming…

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Two fellows with a strong taste for those favorite flavors of Brookdale soda that sweetened much of New Jersey life from post-World War II to the late 1980s, are on a mission to bring back the soda pop brand of those great old days.

Bobby Cole and Kevin Calhoun, in association with Brookdale Beverage heir Joseph Pieretti, are reviving the logo of the infamous drink and emblazoning it across t-shirts, mousepads, refrigerator magnets, clocks and sweatshirts. Cole, aka Bobby Restaino, was proprietor of the Soda Pop Shop on Bloomfield Ave. in Montclair. Cole is Restaino’s stage name.

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Skies have been so sunny over Baristaville the past few days that we were practically unaware of Hurricane Earl, bearing down on much of the east coast and possibly swiping the Jersey shore and New York tomorrow.

The National Weather Service has issued a Tropical Storm Watch for the New York City area, including Essex County.

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It was a little bit of the good, the bad and the stressed out amongst DeCamp strike refugees this morning. According to a NJ Transit conductor, ushering passengers onto the Montclair-Boonton train out of Bay Street at 7:03, ridership seems to be up 30 percent. But regular passengers on the 7:45 train out of Bay Street told us that there seemed to be about 50 percent more people.

Joe Truchan, the coffee slinger for Gigi’s Express at Bay Street, said he’d sold double the quantity of beverages and snacks this morning. Sylvan Meneses, Gigi’s owner observed that they’re seeing a lot of folks they’ve never seen before. One first-time train rider waiting on line for the ticket machine held up her robust looking muffin — purchased upstairs from Meneses — and said “we don’t get to buy muffins while waiting for DeCamp.” Another displaced bus rider on line behind her added, “Yeah, and if you had a muffin, the driver wouldn’t let you eat it!”

Despite the crowds, and beyond the muffin perk, some riders found the train experience an improvement on their regular bus ride. “NJ Transit much smoother experience than Decamp, busses actually ontime with seats!” declared one rider on Clever Commute. Vivian Marino, a Glen Ridge resident taking the 8:24 midtown direct, had an upbeat attitude about the change. “Although the bus is very convenient to my office, there are a lot of other alternatives to De Camp. It’s an adventure to try something different.”

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Fire broke out on the first floor of a Dewey Street home in Bloomfield at 2:12 a.m. Wednesday, critically injuring the 60- year-old homeowner, Cynthia Shearin. Jack Cluen of Jack’s Auto Repair, the neighboring property, heard the upstairs tenants yelling outside and then banging on his door. Cluen called 911 and says he was “impressed at how quickly the fire department got there, within 5 minutes or so after I called.”

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DeCamp management conferred privately at their 101 Greenwood Avenue headquarters early this afternoon, while union officials met next door at the Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ, with no signs of any last-minute deal to avert a bus strike called for Thursday morning at 5 a.m.

While management declined to talk and hid their faces from cameras, Jorge Maldonado, president and business agent of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1317, spoke to Baristanet following the meeting at the church.

“We’re ready for the duration,” Maldonado said. “We’re geared up to take it as far as we can.”

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Want to become a better lover, make a felt hat or speak less like a Jersey girl?  Registration for the next round of courses at the Adult School of Montclair begins today.

You can also check out the likes of Steve Martin, Lewis Black and Elaine Stritch through the simulcast from the 92nd Street Y.

The Montclair Farmers Market has a certain intangible quality. I might call it spirit, or maybe community, but je ne sais quoi seems more appropriate.

Each Saturday morning, New Jersey farmers and artisans of the highest quality and integrity set up tent in the Walnut Street Train Station Parking Lot. Soon, regular patrons swarm the space, enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the quality of goods they are purchasing. At the risk of sounding slightly utopian, it’s is more than just a Farmer’s Market – - it’s a communal experience.

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